Daniel 8

1In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that had appeared to me earlier.

2I looked in the vision, and as I looked I was in Susa the citadel, in the province of Elam. I looked in the vision, and I was beside the Ulai Canal.

3I raised my eyes and looked, and there before me was a ram standing beside the canal. It had two horns. Both horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one came up last.

4I watched the ram charging westward, northward, and southward. No animal could stand against it, and no one could rescue from its power. It did whatever it pleased and became great.

5As I was thinking about this, a male goat suddenly came from the west across the face of the whole earth without touching the ground. The goat had a prominent horn between its eyes.

6It came toward the two-horned ram that I had seen standing beside the canal, and it rushed at it in furious power.

7I saw it reach the ram, enraged at it. It struck the ram and broke its two horns, and the ram had no strength to stand against it. It threw the ram to the ground and trampled on it, and no one could rescue the ram from its power.

8The male goat became very great, but at the height of its strength the large horn was broken, and in its place four prominent horns came up toward the four winds of heaven.

9Out of one of them came another horn, which started small but grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Beautiful Land.

10It grew until it reached the army of heaven, and it threw some of the army and some of the stars down to the earth and trampled on them.

11It even made itself as great as the Commander of the army. The regular offering was taken away from him, and the place of his sanctuary was thrown down.

12Because of transgression, an army was handed over to it along with the regular offering. It threw truth to the ground, and it succeeded in whatever it did.

13Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who was speaking, “How long will the vision last—concerning the regular offering, the transgression that causes desolation, and the handing over of the sanctuary and the army to be trampled?”

14He said to me, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary will be restored to its rightful state.”

15While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to understand it, there before me stood one who looked like a man.

16Then I heard a human voice from between the banks of the Ulai calling out, “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.”

17So he came near to where I was standing, and when he came I was terrified and fell on my face. He said to me, “Understand, son of man, that the vision is for the time of the end.”

18While he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face to the ground. Then he touched me and set me on my feet.

19He said, “I am going to make known to you what will happen at the end of the time of wrath, for it concerns the appointed time of the end.

20The ram you saw with the two horns stands for the kings of Media and Persia.

21The shaggy male goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between its eyes is the first king.

22As for the horn that was broken, and the four that arose in its place: four kingdoms will arise from his nation, but not with his power.

23In the latter part of their reign, when the rebels have reached their full measure, a king will arise, fierce-looking and skilled in intrigue.

24His power will be great, but not by his own power. He will cause astounding destruction and succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy the mighty and the holy people.

25By his cunning he will make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his heart he will make himself great. Without warning he will destroy many, and he will even stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be broken, and not by human hands.

26The vision of the evenings and the mornings that has been told is true. But you are to seal up the vision, for it concerns the distant future.”

27I, Daniel, was exhausted and lay sick for some days. Then I got up and went about the king’s business. But I was appalled by the vision, and no one understood it.